Thanks for the story, though, as it is a pet peeve of mine that people are constantly desecrating the city with posters.

John R. Waldren

Chicago

MODELS REPULSE HER

The model on the cover of your Sept. 13 Men's Fashion Part 2 looks as though he may be on drugs or drunk. I don't consider myself a prude, but these models are repulsive.

I had to write this note since this bothered me for more than two weeks. I've showed this section to a few people and they had the same reaction.

Mary Ann Battista

River Grove

ALL THAT JAZZ

While I greatly enjoyed Howard Reich's retrospective on music at DuSable High School ("Reveille for Room 345," Sept. 6), there are a few errors of fact that need correction, particularly with reference to DuSable's great bandmaster and teacher, Walter Dyett.

For one thing, Dyett never had a glass eye, despite mistaken reports that have sometimes found their way to print. The appearance of his right eye, which transfixed many a student in its time, was the result of cataracts, which themselves were the consequence of an eye injury Dyett received while a student at the University of California at Berkeley.

Dyett came to Chicago on a scholarship to study medicine at the University of Illinois, as the article stated, but he did not remain there two years. After only one term, the death of Dyett's father caused him to leave to earn a living for his mother, sister and himself. His military band experience began only after Dyett started teaching at Wendell Phillips High School in 1931. That year he was commissioned captain, and in 1932 he joined the U.S. 8th Infantry Band, becoming its bandmaster in 1934.

After Maj. N. Clark Smith left Chicago for St. Louis, Dyett was a substitute teacher trying to fill the vacancy until the Board of Education could appoint a permanent replacement. He became popular with the students and won the support of influential people in the black community to claim that position for himself.

Dan Caine

Munster, Ind.

Editor's note: Dan Caine is working on a biography of Walter Dyett.

I read with interest the story on Newsome Oatis and his efforts to revive interest in jazz at DuSable High School. We find ourselves facing many of the same issues in creating a top performing group composed of young people whose families struggle each month just to buy basic necessities. I am always amazed, however, at how these youngsters can overcome obstacles and rise to any challenge. The important thing is to make sure the children are having fun and enjoying themselves while learning teamwork, self-discipline and other character-building skills.

Arthur Robertson

Director, South Shore Drill Team

& Performing Arts Ensemble

Chicago

"Reveille for Room 345" states: "At its peak, in the 1940s to the '60s, the school was jammed with more than 4,000 students. . . . It was a population so large that the school held two graduation ceremonies--winter and spring--to accommodate everyone."

The two-semester term, September-January and February-June, was citywide, and not exclusive to DuSable. Graduation ceremonies were held January and June in all public schools. It was not until later years that all Chicago public schools went on a one-year school term, September to June.

Jacquelin Reynolds

Chicago

FUR AND FASHION

The Tribune fashion staff may see "indulgence" in fur ("A Little Indulgence," Fashion Part 2, Sept. 6), but all I see is a patchwork of dead animal skins. What a shame that you are falling for the inhumane and very unhip notion that fur is somehow "back." The only reason fur is splashed across the pages of this season's fashion magazines is because it's a high-price item, not because it's cool again to wear 60 dead foxes. The fur industry knows that killing animals comes at a very high price, financially and ethically, and with that comes more advertising dollars for the magazines and newspapers that promote its deadly trade.

I only wish that the Tribune featured that which is truly hip among today's fashion-savvy kids: fake fur. It's fun, it comes in many colors and you don't have to kill anything to wear it.

Face it, fur always looks better on its original owner, and the only people who wear real fur are ugly people.